✅ SOLVED Need help with Scovill hat pin

[diggingthe1]

I am curious about the pin, and I can't identify the marks. Is this a ladies hat pin? What do the marks mean. Thanks!!!!

 

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[ticndig]

Looks like V.M.I To me . I'd be very happy with that find..

 

[diggingthe1]

Looks like V.M.I To me . I'd be very happy with that find..

Thanks ticndig, of course now that I am looking at it more I see a W A L. Maybe this is just a personalized piece. I thought maybe it stood for some kind of military organization. I wonder if the Scovill plant did the engraving? It would be neat to trace it back to someone. I can't remember how to tell which letter would come first.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Diggingthe1 is correct... the engraved letters are definitely WAL. That particular version of "ornate" lettering was popular in the 1880s through very-early 1900s. (You'll see it on quite a few buttons for post-civil-war organizations in the Albert button-book.) I've never seen any mention of the Scovill Company doing engraving, so in my opinion this one is most likely a "personalized" ball-button. I suspect the WAL engraving is more likely to be the owner's initials, rather than representing an Organization's name.

Sidenote:
When you see three initials on a button, and one of the letters is an S, it's very often the initials of a school. Similarly, a letter A often stood for Academy, and C for College. See the Albert button-book's section title Schools & Universities.

 

[diggingthe1]

Thank you very much for taking the time to respond! I am glad to have this piece cleared up, as I have had it for quite sometime. I sure enjoy soaking up all this great information!

 

[ToddsPoint]

In my humble opinion, the initials are LAW. The "L" is closest to the front so it's the first letter. "W" is farthest in back. This is called a monogram. Gary